Louis Georges Erasme de Contades

Louis Georges Erasme de Contades (1704-1795) was a Marshal of France during the Seven Years War. Contades was in command of the French Army during the disastrous Battle of Minden in 1759.

Biography
Louis Georges Erasme de Contades was born in 1704 in Gizeux, Anjou, France to a noble family, and he became a Lieutenant-General in 1745 after rising through the ranks of the French Army. In 1758, Contades was given command of the French army in Westphalia, and he was given the thankless task of preventing a French retreat across the Rhineland and into central Germany. Contades marshalled up his army's strength and attacked the British and Hanoverians at the Battle of Minden in 1759, and his army was repelled and shattered by a massive British counterattack. Contades was relieved of command after this disaster, and he died in 1795.